Smells Like Cherries
by HystericalNapoleon
Summary: Terezi goes over to Karkat's house for Christmas. She has a surprise for him, but so does he. Humanstuck and Petstuck. T for language.


Hey, this is my first story on FF. It was originally for a Secret Santa on deviantArt, but I figured I should put it on here too. ^^ Enjoy!

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I picked at the threads that poked out of the couch, then I stopped myself when I realized what I was doing. I looked over at the Christmas tree that was crammed into the corner, yet it still managed to take up half the living room. I walked over to it, for once not tripping over stray articles of clothing or Cheetos wrappers, and flicked one of the colourful balls that hung from it. It made a sharp_ ting_. I considered taking off my contacts now, to surprise her, but I heard footsteps behind me and turned.

Gamzee slipped his purple-spotted flats on by the door.

"Heading to Tav's?" I asked.

He nodded, grinning. "Gonna give you and Terezi your motherfuckin sweet time alone, best motherfuckin friend."

I rolled my eyes. "We're just watching Bones and eating chinese. You can stay if you really want."

"Nah, bro, it's cool. I'll have fun at his house."

I shrugged. It would have been weird to have him here, but I had felt obliged to offer. It was his apartment too.

He had his hand on the doorknob when there was a ring. "There's m'sis," he said, and continued to open it with a turn of his wrist.

"Come in," I said as she stood at the entrance.

She did, moving past Gamzee, who closed the door as he left. She put down a brightly-wrapped package and then her arms were around my shoulders and her lips on mine.

My flinch was not fast enough to evade her next movement, and saliva dripped down my forehead. "Terezi! That shit's disgusting." I wiped my forehead with my sleeve, then transferred it to my charcoal jeans." You don't just go around licking people."

"You know you like it," she said, and drew away. She took off her coat and stuffed it into the closet.

To this I just rolled my eyes. Any attempt to deny it would backfire miserably- not that it was true in the first place, of course.

Then, there was a low _whuff_.

I frowned and looked around. Neither I nor Gamzee owned any pets, and that noise sounded like one a dog would make. When I looked back at Terezi, she had turned away, brushing the snow off her tuque, yet I still caught her grin. It came again, and my eyes snapped to the present she'd put on the floor. I kneeled by it, then cursed as I rubbed my hands over the breath holes in the package. "Why the fuck did you get me a dog?" I demanded. "You know I barely have enough money to eat and pay rent right now."

"You always were happy around Lemonsnout and Pyralsprite when you came over to my house... You don't like it?" she pouted.

I stared at her for a moment, trying to see past the red masks that hid her eyes. The slight downwards tilt of her eyebrows made me realize that she might be serious. I sighed. "I just- I guess I wasn't expecting it. That, and I'm not really sure how I'll deal with-"

Her sigh stopped me. "I know you don't have that much money, dumbass. I've got food, a bed, a leash and whatever else you could need in the trunk of my car. I can buy more, till you get another job. Hopefully you won't get fired from that one for being an authority-seeking idiot too."

I flushed. "She wasn't doing her job right. She put some other guy who had no clue what he was doing as vice-manager, and I told her that."

"Whatever. You going to open the gift? It would be cruel to leave the puppy in there all night."

I looked up at her one last time to confirm her approval, and got to work undoing the green and red ribbons. Once I had this done, I released the weak catch of the cardboard box. I was surprised it had held up this well on the way to my apartment. Then, I peered inside.

The dark puppy inched its way out, so I backed up. It poked its nose out, which was followed by the rest of it.

I held out my hand.

It sniffed my extended fingers, but drew back when I tried to pet it.

I sighed and decided to give it a few more moments to adjust before trying again.

Terezi crouched beside me. "What are you going to call it?"

I shrugged, then almost jumped when a soft tongue brushed by hand. Instead, I ran my hand down its back, this time without protest. Its black fur was long and plush.

"John, maybe," I said.

"It's a girl, Karkat."

I rolled my eyes. "How was I supposed to know that? Woman's intuition? You've been calling her an it this entire time."

She shook her head at me in mock condescension, as was typical of her. "Plus, I'm pretty sure Vriska recently got a pet and named it that."

"I guess that's why the name sounded familiar." I reexamined the puppy. Then, I was struck by her jade eyes That was it! "Her name's Jade," I said.

Terezi leaned beside me to see what I meant, then nodded.

I turned my wrist and examined the ticking arms. "The chinese food should be here anytime now."

She grinned. "You ordered the red sauce with it, right?"

"Of course. I know you would kill me if I didn't get you your favorite drug, the colour red."

She was saved from having to reply by the doorbell.

I too was saved from having to talk more. I rushed over in front of her. I was going to pay for something, at least. As I opened the door, she went back and held Jade.

The man, dressed in the restaurant's uniform, handed over a paper bag in exchange for the crumpled bills I had dug out of my pocket. Then I reentered the room, hauling it behind me.

The puppy, now released, wagged her tail as she sniffed at the food that was just over her head.

Terezi scratched Jade's head.

I walked past her, into the kitchen, which, despite the lack of dishes, was still a mess. As I set the food on the counter with a thump, I saw that food stains were still left on it. I began piling food on two plates.

Her footsteps, along with Jade's closed in behind me. "Can you put Bones in the TV?" I asked, heart beating faster than it should be.

There was a distant "sure," and I heard her moving away.

My dog, however, came to stand at my feet. I bent down to ruffle her head. _I need to stop hiding things from her,_ I thought, and I bit my lip. I had to do it know, otherwise I would keep delaying it.

In the living room there was a click as the disk was inserted, then a whirling sound and it started up, playing the theme.

I took the now laden plates and walked to the couch with Jade, where Terezi was already seated. She took the remote and just as she located the play button, I grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" I said.

She stopped, waiting for my explanation.

_Good job Vantas,_ I told myself. _You have to tell her. There's no backing out now._ "Instead of a normal Christmas gift, I've got a secret for you," I blurted out. My limbs felt cold, or warm, or maybe both.

Her lips went up a bit.

Instead of using words, I took the small box out of my other pocket and opened it. I stretched my eyes open as far as they would go, then touched one. I did the same with the other, then placed the contact lenses back in their pools of alcohol. I held her gaze. "I'm sorry."

"They're beautiful." And then she had the nerve to smile, not even one of her psychopathic grins, a real one.

Then, I couldn't help but remember.

_I was one of the first to enter the classroom. I had selected a desk, one that was far to the back and in a corner. I kept my head down and began to flip through the agenda I had been given._

_The class gradually filled up, and I heard the whispers, though I wasn't sure if it was paranoia or not. But I heard them._

_"Who's that with the white hair?"_

_"I heard he's the new kid."_

_"Is his hair dyed?"_

_"Holy shit, maybe he's an albino."_

_"What's that?"_

_"I dunno. C'mon, let's go see him."_

_I gave the group a glance as they walked up. Four or five of the bravest, though the rest of the room still watched, some turned in their chairs to get a glimpse of me. "Hey," one of them said, a boy of my age._

_I kept my gaze down. "Go away."_

_Two of the girls looked at each other nervously._

_"Maybe we should just leave him alone. He obviously doesn't want us here," another said._

_The first kid grabbed my arm, forcing me to look up at him._

_The reaction was instant. People gasped._

_I cringed away from them, hiding my face._

_By this point, the teacher has noticed and shooed them away from me, but she coudn't stop the mutterings. "Well, I guess I should explain. Karkat Vantas, our new student, like someone said, has a rare condition called albinism. It just means that he has no pigm- colour in his skin, eyes or hair. That's what you would look like too if you had it. It's natural, and he's just like any other student. I expect you to treat him like one."_

_I crawled a bit out of my shell at this, and looked around. The other students seemed to have been distracted, for now._

_"Can black people have it too?"_

_She looked offended for a moment, but she pushed up her glasses up and laughed. "Of course. Now, let's get on with today's lesson." She turned and began writing numbers on the chalkboard, but people still looked at me as much as they could without getting in trouble. After class they asked me questions mercilessly. And this went on and on, getting worse as I went up the grades._

Her hand was on mine. "What's wrong with that? You're an albino. So what?"

I glared at her, but my gaze faltered. "Everyone stares at you. You're always that kid with the white hair, not Karkat. They'll always ask you the weirdest questions. I'm still human for fucks sake." My voice went quiet at the end. My eyes were warm.

"I know."

She didn't, but I already felt like enough of an ass as it was.

"So you dyed your hair and got contacts?"

I nodded, taking a tremulous breath. It was over. I'd told her, and she hadn't reacted horribly. I could relax. But I couldn't.

Terezi wrapped her arms around me. "It's easier when people can't see your differences."

I blinked. How had I forgotten? Maybe it had become normal to have someone who could smell colours around all the time. I wanted to hit myself.

She drew and looked into my eyes. "They smell like cherries. Delicious cherry cough syrup."

"I guess that makes sense," I said. I looked over at our food. "It's getting cold."

She took the hint and started the show, letting Jade onto her lap.

I took a bite of my crab rangoon and said, "this is a weird Christmas, isn't it?"

She shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"No. We're together. That's all that counts."


End file.
